Having long wished to be joined in Topeka, Kansas Territory by his wife, Mary Holliday, and daughter, Lillie, Cyrus K. Holliday instructed them not to leave Meadville, Pennsylvania, until he wrote again. Alarmed by recent killings, arrests, and home evictions of free state men, Cyrus, usually optimistic, foresaw continued unrest. He also mentioned receiving money Mary had sent. In a post script, he emphasized that their journey was necessarily, though undesirably, delayed.